Six notes on a guitar, looped and warped through pedals until it barely sounds like a guitar anymore. That’s how “Unencumbered” begins — not with the math-heavy chaos Las Vegas trio Annelida became known for, but with something slower, more spacious, built on tension instead of tempo. It’s the first signal that the band’s new EP, out today via Manic Kat Records, operates on a different frequency than anything they’ve put out before.
“Unencumbered is us throwing our own rulebook out the window,” says vocalist Kevin Diamond. “Going into this EP, we made a conscious decision that nothing was off-limits. If a song called for synths, clean vocals, or unconventional structure, we followed that instinct without hesitation.”
Stream the full EP below.
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Annelida announced themselves with “Lord Leech” in January 2022, led by the breakout single “Bare Bones.” In their first two years, they toured the Midwest and West Coast, building a reputation through their live show.
Their 2024 release “Garage Honey & The Bar Fly Mutiny” — their first on Manic Kat Records — drew attention from Decibel Magazine, Rock Sound, and Idobi, pulling from a mathy, high-speed playbook of dizzying riffs and frenzied breakdowns. But somewhere during that cycle, something shifted.
“We became harder to define,” Diamond says. “People tried stacking subgenres or inventing new ones just to place us somewhere. We decided to abandon that entirely and adopt a simple mindset: ‘this is an experimental heavy band.’ No categories, no expectations.”
“Unencumbered” follows a character moving through stages of redemption. Each track maps a different step in that process, built on the understanding that you can’t outrun your past — only rebuild from it. The 00s hard rock and nu-metal influences that surface across the EP inject something melodic into Annelida’s progressive hardcore frame, and where their older stuff thrived on relentless complexity, this record lets patience do the heavy lifting.
The EP’s opener, “To Conquer a Kingdom,” sets that tone immediately. Diamond describes the guitar as functioning almost like a synth — those six looped notes modulated through pedals to build atmosphere rather than speed. Lyrically, it’s about confrontation and reclaiming power: overthrowing those who believe they control you.
“Leaves a Ghost with No Throne” takes a different turn. Diamond calls it one of his favorites on the record. The song sits with the idea that the past never fully disappears, even after you’ve moved beyond it. “Those ghosts remain. You can let them haunt you, or you can accept them as reminders of where you’ve been,” he explains.
“The kingdom you’ve claimed still carries its history.” Musically, it revolves around a rhythmic synth sequence driving a longer, more patient groove — one Diamond carried with him from a previous project. Using it here, in a healthier context, felt therapeutic. “Instead of symbolizing betrayal, selfishness, or addiction, it became a moment of reclaiming something familiar and reframing it with purpose.”
“But I’ve Waded Through Ashes” is where the EP’s arc pivots. The character has faced the past, taken control of the kingdom, and starts building an army for the future. Diamond wrote it for the people he’s met in the industry who genuinely support him — a contrast to the ghosts from earlier tracks.
“Not every song needs to be an overthought, hyper-technical build into chaos,” he says. “Sometimes simplicity and intention are more powerful.”
There’s a fun production detail here too: Diamond wrote the entire song live while streaming from his studio on Twitch (twitch.tv/annelidamusic). What started as a voice memo of him counting turned into a finished track over one weekend. At the time, he was consistently live-streaming the writing process — most ideas never made it to the EP, but this one came together on camera, and the entire pre-production is still out there for anyone to find. “It’s a snapshot of how transparent and unfiltered this era of Annelida really was.”
“And Burned a Bridge Home” carries one of Diamond’s favorite studio memories. The lead guitar in the chorus didn’t exist at first — the song felt done to him. Then guitarist Tony started playing the first few notes of what became that lead part. Diamond instinctively hummed along, and Tony mirrored his — in Diamond’s words — “completely unhinged ‘Jack Black–style’ vocal solo” on guitar. “That moment locked everything into place and showed me that Annelida can be genuinely beautiful while still being heavy.”
The song itself reflects on how past actions shape future thinking, and how staying positive matters not just for yourself but for the people around you. Burning a bridge behind you means nothing if you’re not building new ones forward. Vocally, it marks a turning point — Diamond leans into a harsher singing style he’d only used accidentally before. This time it was intentional, and embracing it opened up new ground for him as a songwriter.
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The EP closes with “Now the Buried Sing,” the last track Diamond recorded vocals for. After everything he’d explored across the previous songs, he decided to bring all of those vocal approaches together in one place. Past, present, and future colliding.
“I don’t see us limiting ourselves anymore or playing by the rules of whatever subgenre we’re placed in,” he says. “I wanted to sing the way I sing, so I did — and I’m genuinely happy about that. This song feels like both an ending and a beginning.”
“Unencumbered” is out now on Manic Kat Records.
